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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Cricut Basics

Cricuts are an awesome addition to every crafters arsenal. Cricuts are personal electronic die-cutting machines. During my next three posts I’m going to outline three different aspects of Cricuts. The first entry will be about Basics, an introduction to Cricuts for those of you who don’t (yet) have one. The next week will be Cricut Beginnings which will be what to do once you have a Cricut cutter. The last week will be Cricut Techniques which is some of the tips I have found out through experience or research.

Cricut Basics- for non- pre-owners

You may have heard of the Cricut machine, passed the Cricut aisle in the craft store, or even seen one in action but what is it really? Cricut is produced by Provo Craft and they make multiple products under the label. Here is a list of their products.

The Cricut (original)- Can produce 1”- 5.5” image from cartridges that fit all of the Cricut Machines. You put paper on a sticky mat (12”x6”) , type in what image you want on the keyboard, and press cut.

The Cricut Create- Can produce a .25”-5.5” image. Uses the same cartridges and mat as the original Cricut.

The Cricut Expression- Can produce images much larger. Uses the same cartridges but the mat is 12”x12” or 12”x 24.” Has more cutting options than the smaller versions.

The Cricut Cake- Pretty much the same as the Expression only can cut out products like fondant.

Juke Box- Can utilize up to 6 Cricut cartridges and switch between them with the push of a button instead of having to change them in and out.

Gypsy- A handheld design studio that you can download your cartridges onto and create images which you can cut out with your Cricut.

Design Studio- Similar to the Gypsy only it is a computer program that links up to your Cricut. You can download a free trial to see how it works. I'll talk more about this another day.

Cricut Imagine- This is the newest Cricut product. It is like an Expression plus a printer. You can actually print and cut at the same time. It helps with layering images and of course adds color.

Here is a simple demonstration of how a Cricut works:

Update on the 3Yin3M Challenge: I'm still going strong. I have used my Cricut a ton so I don't have to keep buying more letters and cut outs individually at the store. Pictures coming next week!

You can still submit a project to the Wayward Weekend. We would love to see what you guys do!